The First Quarter Quell
by actionfan
Summary: This story of the hunger games follows Emerald, from district one, who despises the hunger games. She's voted as a tribute in the quarter quell, or 25th hunger games. Will she win, or die brutally? Need I say why it's T? Chapter nine's up! Please review!
1. A Hunger Games Tribute

_Author's Note: This is the longest chapter I have written as of March twenty fifth. I hope that you like it reader(s)!_

It's another day for "school", and my fourth reaping. Everybody knows that District 1 trains for the games, but they don't know that "school" is when we train.

I wear the "uniform", flesh colored armor. Above that, you can wear anything you want. I felt my long scar that went up my cheek. When I was seven, I was curious to see if the throwing knives were sharp, and tested it on my cheek. I found out that it really hurts when you touch a knife blade that day.

My emerald green shirt matches my green eyes almost exactly. I'm ready for my possibly last day of training. I jump nimbly down the stairs, and high kick the kitchen door open, but I end up having to unlatch it. I drop by my mother, and say good morning, while I stuff my mouth with some toast with butter. As soon as I finish my slice, I rush out the door. I'm on my way to school.

As soon as I begin walking along the cobblestone path, I look around and identify some of the berries around me as deadly an poisonous. In the games, one wrong berry can kill you in a matter of seconds. Within minutes, I'm at the training center. I open the door to the sort of auditorium.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! We have decided who will volunteer for the first quarter quell! That means that we will be selecting two boys and two girls who we think are ready to volunteer. They have the choice, but you will forever be ashamed!" Announces the "principal" cheerily.

"Okay. For her strength in every skill here, we have Emerald Jones!" I gasp. Everybody dreams of their name being called, but not me. Another girl, who's a big show off and thinks of herself as superior to everybody walks along side of me to the principal. Next come the boys. My big brother and his best friend are called, and I just manage to hold back all but one tear, which I let trickle slowly down my cheek. We'll have to volunteer, because if we don't, we'll never hear the end of it. This means that I'll probably have to kill him.

"Everybody back to school!" Shouted the principal. Well, at least they weren't choosing another tribute. I run back towards the girl's training room and go straight to the bow and arrow target practice.

I hit each arrow in the same place every tim, splitting each arrow in half. It's an old habit that I've always done to get on every body's nerves. After the station master gets fed up with me splitting the arrows, he ends up throwing bird dummies in the air. I hit all but one, and the reason that I missed it was because I wanted to practice causing mayhem. I hit the generator, sending sparks flying, and the power went out.

I began to giggle, and go off to the other stations, making sure to leave an hour for going over edible/inedible plants, which I did very well at, and crammed as much information as possible into my brain before it's time to go.

After the school bell rings, my brother and I begin to walk home together. We both object the hunger games, so it's very hard on us that we have to fight in it.

"We have to volunteer Max, but I don't want to." I say.

"We have to." He answers. He's right. If we're chosen, but don't volunteer, we're poisoned.

As soon as I get home, I see one of my moms old reaping outfits laid out on my bed. There's an emerald green that is very elegant. It has long sleeves, and goes down to my knee. I look at myself in the mirror, and begin to brush my hair.

This time, there are forty eight tributes, so that dwindles my chances of surviving greatly, and the fact that victors can volunteer if they want to. Yeah. I'm going to die in a few weeks.

I finish thinking of the awful subject, and rush downstairs with the family, and begin to walk towards town square.

I sit next to the sixteen year old girls, waiting for my turn to volunteer. As the minutes drag on like hours, it's finally time for the girls to be drawn.

"Ladies first! Okay, we have- Emerald Jones with the most votes." She says.

Next, the other three are called. I suddenly come to realization. This isn't a dream. I really am officially part of the hunger games, and afterwards, if I win or die, I will no longer have a brother. The horrible truth hits me, but I manage to keep a blank expression for the capitol, unless I pretend to be a weakling. In the hunger games, it's always better to be underetimated.

I burst into tears. In the five minutes that feel like hours, I manage to convince everybody just that. All of a sudden, the peacekeeper comes and leads us to different satin rooms. I sit on a couch, and clear my face. I miss my family. Luckily I'll be able to say goodbye.

First comes my family, who are allotted half of my time to say goodbye.

"I love you mom, but I wish I could bring both of us back." I say sadly.

"Oh, about that. Max and I knew that this would happen, so we planned his death with the other girl volunteer." My mother said.

"I'm not letting him die for me. He can't do it. You can't let him!" I yell.

"I'm sorry, but we have to. You can't just die. He's lived a longer life than you." Says mother.

I try to smile, but can't.

"I'm touched that you guys would risk your lives for me, but I don't want him to die because I'd miss him." I say.

I glance at the clock. In what had seemed like five minutes, twenty five minutes had passed. Five minutes left to say good bye to my family, most likely forever.

I do the old rutine. I hug each one and tell them that I love them. The minutes pass like that, and my family is shoved out. Next came in a boy who had been my best friend for years. We had always lived next door, and I almost cry in seeing him again.

"Nice job." He says. I try to smile and nod, but can't bring myself to it.

"Here, take this." He says, as he hands me an emerald pin. "It's you symbol." He finishes. Before I can move, something hits my lips, and next thing I know, he's gone. The hour is apearantly up, and I'm herded on to a train, and shown to my quarters. I decide to explore before it's time for dinner.


	2. A First Found Friend

**Author's Note: Thanks for staying with me for so long! I just couldn't seem to find the time to write for a while. I hope you like the new addition, and I hope that you can tell me what I should change! I know that it's shorter than the other chapter, but I hope you enjoy it!**

It seems that as soon as I get to explore my quarters, it's time to have my dinner. I'm escourted by our escourt, Lilly McFleedan, to the dinner car, where I see my brother, his friend, and the show off.

Sitting before us are our long line of victors. We have a total of ten, which isn't a bad number. The victors seem to be fighting over something, and eventually come to a conclusion. Appearently, they're fighting over who gets to be a mentor, which the youngest most recent victors have that job, and then comes who gets who. A beautiful girl who looks about my age walks up to me.

"We've decided for that I get to be be your mentor." She says excitedly. She obviously thinks that I can win. She had become a victor just the year before, so she remembers all of her strategies very well. I get a spot across her on the table, and we begin to eat the large feast before us.

"Okay, first things first, I'm Aquamarine Yaterslav." She, I mean Aquamarine says.

"I'm Emerald. Emerald Jones." I say.

"Nice name, and nice pin." She says. I remember her volunteering. It wasn't because she wanted to, but because she had to, sort of. The victors charm was an aquamarine pin, that was somewhat similar to mine.

"Thanks." I say.

"Okay, about your- umng- strategy," She says with a mouth full of roast beef. She swallows. "You always want to make good choices in your choices of allies. You don't have to choose among the careers. Actually, I'd recomend somebody from district 11, and district 4." Aquamarine finishes. I nod.

"Yeah. That way the person from district for and me would be good as guards, and so would a tribute from district 11, if they can fight. Then the district eleven tribute could teach you some edible/inedible berries and supply me with enough food." I say. She nods.

"Great minds think alike." She says. I grin for the first time today since the generator incident. Now I have some body that I can actually trust.


	3. A Busy First Day at the Capitol

It's about 9:30 when I'm aroused by Lilly McFleeden for breakfast, and my prep team. I slip on a green top, and light brown pants. It's not like we'lll be on camera today.

I'm hustled to a black limousines, and in a few minutes time, arrives at a small square that appears to be in the middle of town. The area seems to be a shopping center, and in a dark corner, an elegant building stood, and the building was devoted to hunger games tributes.

I'm escorted to the door, where a group of three take me to a room, strip me down naked, and begin to wash me in some sort of chemical that burns my skin. By the time they let me out, my skin's a light shade of pink. Next, the scrub me, which makes my skin really raw, and my skin begins to look irritated. Next comes a water bath, with actual H2O. It helps soothe my skin a little bit, but not entirely. After that, They begin to stick patches of fabric to my skin to pull out all of my hair, except for what's on my head.

I try to hide my pain when my prep team begins to pull of each strip of cloth, but I can't hold back a grimace.

After what seems like hours, my fashion designer, Min Toilmety, began to measure my lengths. Apparently my legs and arms were abnormally long. As soon as he finished writing down the measurements, he allowed me to put on my robe, which I gladly did. He dismissed me, and I put my green top and tan pants back on.

The peacekeepers escorts me to a hotel, where I was led to a fancy hunger games tribute place, with 150 massive quarters for escourts, tributes, and victors. Appearantly, I had room thirteen. Lucky me. I explore a little bit, but I'm soon called down for dinner in a fancy dining room.

I follow the group of district one to the elegant and fancy room. I have a seat across from Aquamarine.

"So, um, tonight's the chariot night, right?" I ask. She nods.

"Yes, you'll be seeing Mecin later tonight to get dressed in your dress." She answers. "Anyway, I hope I get to see you in a few weeks!" She says excitedly. I can tell that she thinks I have a really good chance at winning the games. "Oh, more advice. Don't fully trust anybody, and don't go looking for fights." She advises. I nod.

"That seems about right." I say.

"Oh, by the way, what are your specialities? Aquamarine asks me.

"Well, I'm pretty good with swords and throwing knives, but I'm best with a bow. Sure I almost never miss my target in throwing knives, but I can get a clean shot and split arrows in half." I answer proudly.

"Well, you probably want to work on your swordsmanship, since swords are very common in the arena. You might also want to memorize some herbs to help heal faster if you get injured, stung, or burned." She suggest. "I want to be able to be your friend after the games too, so promise me you'll be one of the final to." She says.

"But- That means that I'll have to live longer than- what- 46 people. That'll be near impossible!" I say.

"Ah, don't think that way. I know that if you try your hardest, you can win." She says, before she can stuff a fork full of ham in her mouth. "Oh, and between you and me, memorize desert plants. I overheard some of the game makers debating, and a forest or desert landscape, so I'd look up both. That way you can tell what it's gonna be when they give you your outfit, so you'll be prepared for both." She whispers.

I grin. "You know, what if I join the careers for one or two days, and grab enough supplies of the really good supplies and weapons?" I whisper. She grins back at me.

"Good thinking, but tell nobody about the plan. It might actually lose you sponsers, or give you more sponsers, because of your sneakiness." She whispers. Once again, I feel a warm feeling inside of me, but it doesn't last long.

I can't imagine how Aquamarine would feel if I died in the arena. She had already lost her best friend in it last year, so if another friend died, she'd be devastated. I had to win the games, but I couldn't kill my own brother.

I think about this for the rest of dinner, whill I eat a few slices of glazed ham, and drink this juice stuff. After dinner, I meet Min in a room by the chariots, and change into a shimmering emerald green coctail dress.

The prep team puts my hair up in a braided bun, and places a crown set with an array of different jewels at the crown of my head. I have about two minutes to look at all of the tributes. Out of the 47 of them, only two look trustworthy, and have the ability to survive for thabout a week on their own. A boy from district eleven, and a girl from district nine, but you never know untill you see them train.

I'm lifted into a large chariot with the three other tributes of my district. Lights flash down on the beautiful square I'm riding down. I look around, and see about a thousand people- some are taking pictures and others are writing notes, and others are cheering on the tributes, and some are glancing at tributes in awe.

We are all beautifully dressed, but one district (I'm not sure which) is wearing a tree costume. Seriously? We're just about to die, and the fashion designers dress them up as if it's Hallow's Eve? trhat's pathetic. I glance forward ahead, trying to remain strong, but remembered how well I did as faking my self weak. Now I could regain some sponsors.

I'm glad when the chariot ride is over, and everybody has to get back into their room. I wipe the little make up that was on my face. It was to cover the thin scarlet scar across my eye- not touching it, but even still it was a scar. I strip off my dress, and lay it gently on the floor.

I look through the drawers, and pull out some soft velvety pajamas, and crawl into bed. At least I'm getting rest for the first day of training tomorrow. Now my score was what I really needed to get sponsors.


	4. The Three Days of Training

_**Training: ****Day ****One**_

I wake up early and dress in comfortable clothes that were easy to move in. I run downstairs for breakfast, give aquamarine morning greetings, and catch up with Lilly in the hall. She fits us all into an elevator and pushes the button to the top floor.

Infront of us are two doors with at least twenty other teens peering into the window. As soon as everybody arrives, we are told the guidelines of the training room, and that there was to be no sparing with other tributes- only trainers. The doors are finally opened, and I go immediately to the swimming pool. Who knows when that would come in handy?

After a few minutes of improvement, I decide to show off my bow skills. I impress everybody by doing the usual- splitting arrows in half. It both amazed and irritated the trainer, and he told me to to go jump in a lake, so I jumped into the pool. I stayed for a few minutes to watch everybody practice. A guy from district one was rocking the throwing knives, while another girl from the same district was beating up a sparring partner. Now I know who to make an alliance with.

For the rest of the day, I work on hand to hand combat, swordsmanship, throwing knives, and decide to try my luck at weaving, and stink at it. First of all, I could fit my head through it, and I could break it in my sleep. Next, I try my luck at the berries, and realize that these berries are forest berries.

Relief flows through me, and I practice what berries and plants that won't kill me. Ha, good for me. Know all I have to learn is how to not feel guilty about killing somebody around my age.

I decide to look around, and discover that the girl from number eleven that rocked at throwing knives was very trustworthy, and knew all about herbs and edible stuff. I walk over to her, and she jumps as soon as she sees me. I realize that she's one or two years younger than I am, and her face is filled with fear.

"It's okay, I was just going to ask you if you wanted me to be your ally, but-" I say.

"What? You want to be my ally?" She asks. "What is this world coming to. Careers asking puny seventeen year olds if they want to be allies." She mutters.

"I mean it. See, here's the plan. I'll stick with the careers untill nightfall, when it's my guard. Then I'll steal supplies and weapons, and snag as many throwing knives as I can for you. The next day, I'll light a fire, and you can follow the smoke." I tell her. Her expression looks surprised.

"How come you don't want to stick with the others of your kind?" She asks.

"Well, my brother was vote too, and I don't want to be around when he dies." I say.

"Oh." She says. "Well, I trust you, but I won't completely trust you until you risk our life for mine." She says.

"Okay, deal." I say, and we shake. At least I have one ally so far, and I think I want it to stay like that. "Wait, will you be making any other alliances?" I ask.

"No," she says. "Any more than two people in an alliance can cause more starvation if it's a bad hunting and harvesting day." She finishes.

By the end of the day, I'm exhausted from the day of training, but I know that I should fight any feeling like that in the games.

**_Training: Day Two_**

I slip on another pair of comfortable clothes, grab my breakfast, and meet all of the tributes in the training room. I decide to run laps to work on my endurance, which is a necessity for the games. After I get exhausted from that, which takes about three hours at full speed, I jog to the weaving center to practice my weaving skills. After I try my luck at twisting the grass, It turns out a little bit better than my last one. This time my hand fit trough it, but it was really hard to break.

Next, I get tired of my fails, and head for the shelter making center. At this station, I successfully make a lean to. I mean, it didn't topple over very easily.

By the time I finish, it's time to go back for dinner, but I just manage to keep from falling asleep and drowning in my soup. After dinner, I practically drag myself up the stairs, and go to bed with my clothes on, with nightmares of weapons. I can't seem to push away the nagging feeling that I have about the games. This is really happening!

**_Training: Day Three:_**

I slip on some comfortable pants and a shirt. Same old same old. I run to the dining room, eat my pancakes, and rush out the door with enough time to spare so that I can talk to my ally.

As soon as the elevator doors open, I rush over to meet my ally, and to ask her a question. "You know, I've been wondering. What's your name?" I ask.

"I'm Poppy, and you are?" She sort of answers, sort of asks.

"I'm Emerald." I answer. Right then and there, the doors open, and it's chaos to get to be the first in. This was my last day of training. Today I would have to work on combat.

I race to the sword station, and spar with the training, but we never did have a clear cut winner, because then I had to hit the bow and arrow station, but apparently I had been banned from it. Lousy archery trainer. Next I go to try to throw spears. You can guess how that went.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH" THUD! CRASH! BANG! Yep. Complete chaos. I actually was aiming for a dummy, but stuck some person's lean to, and that caused some sort of a chain reaction. Yeah, not good. Note to self and other people: Never let me touch or catch sight of a spear again. Ever.

I run laps for the rest of the day because now it's the only station that I haven't been banned from. Oh well. By the end of the day, I'm not as tired as I was the last, and ate dinner before heading back to the training center for my score. I am the first to go, and know exactly what to do.

I grab a bow and arrow, and split every single arrow because of my wonderful aim. Next, I beat the stuffing out of a dummy with throwing knives, and then I create a lean to. I leaned up against it, and nothing happened. I got a standing ovation from the game makers, and skipped to my quarters, and turned on the TV to see my score. I gasped. I got an 11.5. The highest score on record! I think of that, and I have more peaceful dreams, but I still feel a nagging. The games are in two days.


	5. An Inteview on Hunger Games Eve

I wake up, and it's at least 11:00 in the morning. Wow, I really slept in. I slip out of my room in my deep purple nightgown, and sneak down the stairs.

"You've finally gotten up! This is the last day I'll ever see you untill the games are over." Aquamarine says.

"Sorry, you know, *yawn*, I was very sleepy." I answer.

"Well, if your like this every morning, I'll have to get a sponsor to send a few weeks worth of coffee." She muses. That gets me wide awake. I remember when I was little, and my mother and father were celebrating their anniversary with coffee. When my mom was looking for my big brother, I drank a small sip, a sip that was horribly bitter.

"You know, I think I'll pass on that." I say, and she cracks up. Might as well have a little fun before my life is ruined, right?

I sit at the table, and grab a crepe off of a plate. Looks like they're giving us really good food on my last full day at the Capitol.

I stuff it up with some strawberries and chocolate sauce, and savour every last bite, and feel as if it is melting in my mouth. I decide not to eat too much, and shuffle back upstairs into a nice pair of pants and T-Shirt.

I know that today I'll meet Min again, so I don't bother to button my shirt up all the way. After I practice in a pair of high heels, Aquamarine and I decide who I'll "be", and end up with happy confident, and that in the middle of my interview, to wipe off the make up covering my scar, so that people know what I truly look like, and they can take the "Before" and "After" pictures, and the only reason that I tell my friend this is because I don't want to hurt her, because I know it will just about kill her if I say that I'll die.

After most of the day has gone by, I meet my fashion team in an interview dressing room. I see that the crew has made a ruby red dress, with black slippers. Before I go out on the interview table with the pin on and my hair down, Min walks up, and wipes the make up off of my scar.

"Go as yourself. You have nothing to hide from the Capitol. He says. I look in the mirror before I go out on set. I look radiant, and my scarlet scar doesn't look bad with it.

I walk by, and see Caesar. He's only six years older than I, and has a bright purple suit, with make up and hair that matches.

I hear a camera man say, "We're on in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1- we're on." Right on Que, Caesar grins.

"Hello people of Panem, I'm glad you can join us. Here we have the 46 tributes of the twenty fifth annual hunger games. Here, we will interview every single one of those kids to know a little bit more about them for the games! First, we have Emerald Jones!" He announces.

I smile and walk up to the seat next to Caesar, and prepare for any questions.

"So, first of all, everybody wants to know how you got that scar?" He asks. I blush. What could I do! I can't just say that I was training, because that's illeagal!

"Well, when I was seven, I was curious if knives really were sharp enough to cut somebody, so I took one of my mother's kitchen knives, and tested it out. I found out that knives hurt that day." I say.

"Wow, any way, they would also like to know-" The rest of my three minute interview went something like that, as did the other forty five tributes. The same boring old questions. After the nxt two hours are up, I'm allowed to go back to my quarters.

I take off my dress, and put on the same pajamas as I had been wearing for the last week, and think about how homesick I am, and how much I miss home- yet another reason I have to win. Throughout the whole night, my dreams are filled of nightmares of people dying by my hand, and visions of grousome ways that I might die in the games. Why didn't I run away when I was little? Why?


	6. A Morning Preparing for the Hunger Games

**Authors Note: This chapter is a bit shorter than the others, but it has Emerald's morning before the hunger games begin. I hope you like it!**

I wake up at seven in the morning, and see Aquamarine hovering over me.

"I just wanted to say good bye." She whimpers, and retreats out of the room. I can't hurt her any more than I already have, and my mother losing one of her kids is enough. It's either me or Max who has to get the crown.

I begin to brainstorm about what to do when I am in the arena, and what I should grab, but remember to stick with the careers, but it's better to stay on the safe side, and at least grab a sword or bow and arrows, and a back pack. A few knives would be good for hunting too.

After about five minutes, Min escorts me to the fashion place, and french braids my hair so tightly that it would take weeks for a strand of hair to come , he gives me a pair of hunting boots, and a blue shirt with brown pants. I slip it on, and pin the emerald on the left side of the shirt, and Next, underneath everything, is a green jacket. I but it on, and feel toasty warm.

"Emerald, I hope you win." Min says.

"Me too, me too." I whisper.


	7. A Happy Camper

I look around. It seems to be a forest, and I'm relieved that it is, because I wouldn't survive more than a week in a desert, let alone have killing machines chasing after me with cleavers. I look around, and know exactly what to do. As soon as the cannon goes off, I'll charge full speed to grab a mud colored hiking supply pack, a sword, and a bow and quiver of arrows are within feet of each other. On the way, I can pick up a knife. That way, if I fail to get the other stuff, I'll still have weapon.

I hear an explosion, and feel something sticky land on me. One girl decided to go on a suicide mission, and set off her mine, to give others a feeling that it's time to go, which kills about ten people, including her.

All I can do is hope that my ally isn't one of those ten.

I hear a cannon shot, and race towards my back pack and weapons, picking a knife up on the way. In a matter of seconds, I reach the weapons, but everybody is a lot slower than me, so I speed up to grab a bag of first aid scientifically engineered stuff, and go on my way, but discover three people approaching me.

I load my bow, and shoot of the first two, but leave the other one, because she happens to be my ally.

"Come on, let's go." I say, and we begin to charge into the forest and make a hasty retreat.

After we span ourselves a safe distance, from the cornucopia, we look through all of our stuff. As it turns out, Poppy raided the lesser value stuff, and got a large, empty pack, in which she stuffed as much of everything she could. She has a few knives that are normal knives, and about fifty throwing knives. She also managed to find a book of herbs to give to me, a hundred square feet of plastic, and five water skins, which was quite a pack.

I take my turn. I go through the knives, the twenty arrows, two bloody arrows, my bow, and sword. Now to get to the packs.

My back pack has some crackers, rope, gauze, a blanket, and a quiver of twenty arrows. Perfect.

Now I open up the first aid kit. There's stuff that helps burns, helps heal gashes, slows blood, and some medicine that cures minor sicknesses. Not bad.

"So, let's get back on the road and look for water." I say. She nods. The only water that we had was what was in Poppy's skins, which would last a week at the most. We gather every thing back together, and I put my fist aid kit in my back pack, and put it in my back, along with my quiver stuffed with forty arrows, and my bow. I strap my sword to my waist with a throwing knife. "You know, do you think it would be a good idea to hunt a little bit? I mean, at least we'll have some meat in our stomach." I say, and once again, my ally nods.

We walk silently through the woods, keeping an eye out for any mud. As I look around and scan the perimeter, I can sense something behind me, and tackle Poppy to the ground. Sure enough, a spear whizzes where her head had been seconds ago.

"Show yourselves." I say. From the bushes, steps a defenseless boy from district four. I draw my sword and pin him to the ground, pointing my weapon at his neck. "Listen here. I'll spare your life if you swear to be an ally, and only turn against us when we're the last ones living." I say. He nods vigorously. "Okay, grab your spear and follow us." I say. He scampers over to his spear, picks it up, and joins us.

Eventually, we have walked far enough, so I begin to build a lean to, which is very successful. Now all I have to do is find a rock that has been heated in the sun, and hunt nearby it. I have a good catch, and hunt down three rabbits. I gut each one, and set them on the rock, which is very hot to the touch, but it does take a few hours for it to cook enough so that the rabbit meat isn't raw.

I pick up the meat, and I take it back to camp, where I see that Poppy has been picking berries off of the bushes, while the boy weaves.

"Poppy, can I have a few sheets of plastic?" I ask. She hands three to me, and I divide the meat. Then, Poppy gives us a handful of berries, and each of us get a drink of water, along with a good dinner.

"Oh *swallow* I found an opening in a rock, so I'm gonna make a lean to against it so that we're safe from the- the other careers." The boy says.

As we finish our dinner, we hear the anthem play, and we look towards the sky, where it shows the kids who have died. In total, there were twenty. Ten that were blown up, the two that I had shot, and others that had seen die in the cornucopia., except for one, and that one, was my brother. I hold back tears, and I set up camp inside the rock, which seems to have a long winding tunnel inside of it.

At the very end, it has a large space, where I decide to tell my allies something.

"You know, I sort of want to be alone from now on. I don't want to get too atatched to anyone else." I say. My allies nod.

"You will hunt for us, right? And give us supplies?" He asks, with his hopeful eyes looking up at me. I nod.

Poppy gives me the book, and a few sheets of plastic. She also allows me to keep my first aid supplies and a water skin, which I gladly take.

I set off deeper and the cave becomes a distant rock behind me. I find a small bush, and cover myself in the thicket, with the blanket that blends in with the mud. I yawn, and put my weapons within my reach, and my knives and first aid supplies in the back pack. I put my head on top of my bag, and use it as a pillow. It's amazing how peaceful an arena forest can be.


	8. I Get Attacked by a Giant Catterpillar

**_Author's Note: I know that this chapter is shorter than usual, but I didn't want too much to happen in one chapter. Getting attacked by a giant feroscious bug is enough for one chapter, right?_**

Mud is all over my face. I'm sure of it. I touch my hand on my face, and sure enough, a soggy brown mass is on my hand. I love mud so much, and it's especially fun how I used to do the mud and leaf monster thing to scare my friends. Good times, good times.

Wait, mud? I smell what's on my face, and luckily, it has a rich earthy smell, and not, well, a- you know.

I stood up and gathered my things, making sure to keep in close range of the cave, when I hear a few cannons, and a nearby scream. The careers. I load my bow, prepared for any attacks, when a mutant attacks me.

I release my arrow, letting it soar into the caterpillar like creature, and green slime spatters on my face, coating the mud that had already been there, and it screeches. So much for not picking any fights.

I draw my sword, and begin a furry of dodging and stabbing at the giant creature, with very little success. The bites that I have received are bleeding heavily, and I begin to feel a little bit dizzy, but I can't give up now because it will kill me if I don't.

Goodbye world! I jump underneath the bug, and cling to its hairy stomach, and with my free hand, begin stabbing wildly.

Some green goo leaks into my mouth, and I throw up my dinner, and let me tell you, it looked a whole lot better when it came in than when it came up. Yuck.

Out of nowhere, the Caterpillar collapses, and I just mange to roll so that I don't get crushed. I'll never look at butterflies or caterpillars the same way again, but I can't stay in one place for too long, so I hobble over to collect my stuff, and begin treating my wounds.

Now to find that water...


	9. Trust No One

I search the area for any nearby water source, and sure enough, within twenty feet of me, there's a river full of salmon.

I gorge myself full of the water before, I turn and look around. Within ten feet of me, another career is unsheathing his sword. Enough already! I grab my bow, and shoot the arrow, which he dodges. I prepare to shoot him with my bow again, and before I can shoot, he snaps the string.

I grab one of the knives, and throw it, and the. I jump, awaiting a c knife finds itself in a human beings stomach, and I begin to laugh, but stop myself. How many people have I killed? Am I going insane?

I dismiss the idea imeadiatly, and hobble over to the tree. I open up the first aid kit to dress my wounds, but they're no longer there. Oh well, at least I can wash of in the stream, and I land on something hard.

I think back. I can't be having mirages because of thirst, since I have water with me. I must really be going insane- wait a minute. The berries, they looked strange and tasted a bit bitter. I look through my book and find a picture that matches the remaining berries. Sure enough, the berries are slightly poisonous- enough to make you really sick. It says that after twelve hours it'll wear off, so it's almost gone through- ooh! Bathroom, bathroom, or should I say bush, bush.

After I go, I listen to the forest, and hear a rushing noise- water. I gather my supplies, and get a move on to the stream. Ah, cool water. I run up to the stream and touch the waters cool surface.

It feels so good. I jump in and unbraid my hair. It was tugging, so now my head feels so much better, but I rebraid it loosely down my back so that it doesn't get into my hair and tangle.

All of a sudden, I hear a branch crack. I jump out of the water and grab my sword to investigate. I go to the origin of the sound. It's my brother.


	10. Scarred For Life In 2 Ways

I scream. I've never ever in my life seen the living dead.

"Shut up Emerald! I just wanted to say good bye before I join district thirteen and assist with the rebellion." He says.

"Y-your alive?" I ask in a dumb voice.

"Yeah, now just don't speak of this to anyone- ever. I'd also recomend you don't say anything about seeing a ghost or zombie in the areana because they'll think you're insane. Well, I guess this is good bye for good, so ciao!" Max says as he steps onto the hover craft.

I stare dumbly at the sky for a matter of seconds and pass out. You would too if you thought your brother was dead, and he just sort of waved down from a hover craft and said ciao. I wake up with a small vial that says burn ointment. I look at my arms and legs and see that they're badly sunburnt.

I dig out the burn ointment, and put it on my skin, and scream out in pain. My fingers are blistering, and begin to peel. This is literally burnt ointment. I decide to get a move on, but I decide that before I do, I'll take a swim, I just love water. After splashing around for a while, somebody peeks out of the bushes with a sword drawn.

"Would you mind waiting? I gotta get back to camp." I say.

"Uh, sure?" she answers. She looks like she's district 9- hunting (Authors note- sorry to interrupt, but district 9 is supposed to be unofficially hunting, so yeah,) I pick up my knife and wrench her sword out of my "friend's" hand.

"Join my forces, or die." I say. She cowers. "Oh, I don't mean that. If you didn't join me, I let you get away safely." I hear a sigh of releif from her as I turn around to pack up camp, which is the stupidest move I've made in my life.

An angry sharp blade trails down my back, staining it with blood. I yelp out in pain, and manage to kill the district nine girl when she has turned around, thinking I'm unconsious, before I pass out. Lots of passing out today, huh?


	11. And The Winner Is

I wake up to find a blood caked blanket, and a half inch deep wound on my back. While I realize I'm in the middle of the desert. I don't remember going anywhere near a desert, but here I am, and I'm surrounded by- my groginess lifts and I realize that asps are surrounding me. (For those that don't know what asps are, they're deadly snakes, and not another word for donkey that I misspelled.)

"Can this day get any worse?" I ask my self. "Oh yeah, that's right. Ya have to send all the deadly snakes to me- and scorpions." I say as scorpions crawl out of the sand. I try running, but the pain in my back was so extreme I almost passed out- again.

I grab my weapons, and start cuttind up the nearest venomous creatures, which happened to open up my wound- and again, I almost passed out. Could this day get any worse?

Aw crud. Here comes some heavily armed kids from district one, two, and three- and they're running from a landslide. The chances of my survival are dwindling down lower by the second, when all of a sudden, the scorpions and snakes blow up, my supplies and I are suddenly sittng on top of a hill. Looks like the game makers want me to last a little longer.

Before they change they're mind, I rub a little gash ointment on to my back as best as I can, and I feel releif. As I move my hand along the gash, I relize something. I'm in shock, which is why I cant feel the pain. The gash is oozing blood, and I can feel that the gash has doubled in depth. Enough with this ironic ointment stuff!

Luckily for me, Aquamarine has apperantly manged to get a real first aid bag or something, becouse I see a silver parachute floating down from the sky. Well, instead of just a real first aid kit, I have a pack full of bandages, gash ointment, a pair of sunglasses, and a watch like thing that has numbers on it- most likely how many people who are alive, because the number says 13. My lucky number.

I treat my wound, and now it's about as deep as a paper cut. Now to find food- but appearantly Aquamarine has that covered too. Down floats a roasted turkey. I take a bite of the turkey, and decide that it's not cooked in poison or something.

When I finish my breakfast, I put everything in my backpack, and salvadge what's useful and not blood stained. After that's done, I take my rope, and tie it to a hook, and tada! All I have to do is lower myself down. If only I had some gloves. I check the bag, and sure enough, there are gloves.

After lowering myself down the steep hill rope burn free, I look around for a tribute to get out of the way, if I'm going to return home alive. Sure enough, eleven of them are in a cloud fighting, but it'd be foolish for me to join them, so I turn the corner to wait, and then I realize that I can join the fight.

I take my bow and arrows. There are four cannon shots, and then I shoot. I hear four other cannon shots. Three left in the crowd. I send the rest of the arrows flying. Three more cannon shots. Sure enough, according to my watch, there's one person left.

"We meet again." A girls' voice behind me says, clapping.

"Poppy?" I say, as I spin around.

"Need I answer that question?" She replies.

She takes a sword she has, and swings at me. I'm caught offgaurd, and she splits my bow in two. I unsheath my sword instantly and lounge at her. She easily dodges, and strikes at my. The sword grazes my neck, but doesn't hit my wind pipe, I think. I use this opening to stab her in the heart. She cries out in pain, and I pull out the sword.

"I'm sorry Poppy." I say. The last cannon goes off, and I start to have a caughing fit, caughing up blood. I'll make it if the docters treat me soon enough.


	12. Attack Of The Docter

I feel a groggy, sleepy feeling. My throat's on fire, and I groan.

"She alive!"

"Of course she's alive, stupid."

"Well, you didn't know if she was going to get up."

"Of course I did. Not a single hunger games winner has died on me, no matter how bad the injury, I-"

"Pride yourself in your work, I know." I rasp. There's something wrong with my voice.

"Oh my god, she can speak." The docter said.

"Of course I can speak. I spoke my first word when I was one. On my first birthday." My throat is so dang sore.

"That's not what I mean. When the sword grazed your throat, it hurt your speaking ability. Not majorly, but enough to cause the tendon that-"

"English please." Aquamarine says.

"It hurt her throat enough to limit Emerald's speaking ability." Eh, good enough.

"Aquamarine, how did you get in here?" The doctor asks.

"I, uh, well."

"You, uh well, have to get out." The doctor said as he pushed her out of the room. He turned around and gave me a shot, that made me feel dizzy, and-

A small Avox, about seven or eight, brings me a bowl of chicken broth, apple sauce, and a note. I'm about to take a spoonful of the soup, when she stops me, and is pointing at the note. I unfold it, and it reads-

"They've drugged the soup, and a bad man plans to come in and kill you"

"Thanks, but-"

She point's at the note again.

"You killed his daughter." The note finishes.

"Okay, but what do I eat?" I ask. She shrugs. The doctor comes in, and I tell him about the plot, and he laughs, but seems to be sneeking something out of his pocket. A knife.


End file.
